general knowledge for kids Archives

Snails & Slugs

Our days run in cycles of 24 hours. We sleep for about 8-10 hours and work and play for the remaining 14. So, we tend to group animals into a 24-hour cycle when we think about their sleeping pattern.

But the sleeping pattern of snails is quite different compared to that of humans. These gastropods (animals that have no spine and has a soft body with a flat base for moving and often has a shell) do not follow the same cycle as that of humans. Their sleep cycle lasts for 2-3 days.

Their sleeping pattern coincides with the weather conditions. Snails go into a deep sleep to avoid the harsh weather because they are dependent on moisture to survive. They hibernate during the cold winters and estivate during the summer.

During hibernation and estivation, they curl up inside their shell and secrete
a layer of mucous that keeps them protected from external conditions.

So unlike humans, they do not care about the sun’s schedule and don’t need to make up for lost sleep.

Both, snails and slugs are gastropods. However, one thing that sets them apart from each other is that snails have shells and slugs don’t.

Ask Aunt Maneka!

Animal Mothers of the Wild

However, there are some animals that are not known for their nurturing instincts, and make a very different kind of animal mother.

Orangutan- Even though Orangutans are known to be very solitary and independent apes, they build strong bonds with their mothers. Orangutan mothers carry their offspring for the first two years of their lives. During this period the young ones learn what kind of food is good to eat, where they can find it, what material can be used to build a nest and how to do so. This training period lasts from six to seven years. Then mothers and offspring part ways, but not for good. They pay regular visits to their mothers until they are 16. Typically, orangutans live up to 45 years or more in both the wild and captivity.

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African Elephant mothers are the largest land mammal mothers on Earth. When new in the role, mothers are never left alone in caring for their little ones. Due to the matriarchal organization of the group they live in, the other female elephants support all new moms during their 22-month pregnancy. By doing so, the new mothers learn how to raise their babies, what food to give them, dangers to watch out for and places to go. The babies suckle on mother’s milk for 4 to 6 years.

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Lion- Even though lions do not inhabit jungles, they are recognized as the kings of the jungle. Generally, a mother lioness is protective, attentive and caring with her little ones, especially when they are very young. Unfortunately, when a new male takes over a pride, lion mothers allow the new lion king to kill all cubs younger than two years old and start a new dynasty from scratch.

Giant Panda- Giant pandas get pregnant with great difficulty. When they do succeed, they deliver up to three cubs. Out of the three, giant panda реəцатар mothers choose only the strongest-seeming cub to raise, abandoning the others.

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The Cape Ground Squirrel

Summer is here. As the sun beats down on us, we need caps and umbrellas to shield us from the harsh sunlight. So we carry them whenever we step out.

The cape ground squirrel of South Africa too carries its umbrella everywhere. It can never leave it behind even if it wants to. Do you know why? Because it uses its tail as an umbrella!

Friendship is Necessary

The cape ground squirrel lives in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. It lives in burrows and not on trees, unlike others we usually see in our gardens and parks. This is because there are no trees in the desert where it can live on or use its shade. This squirrel spends its day foraging for plants and seeds around its burrow. So it cannot avoid going out in the sun. That’s when its bushy tail comes to the rescue. It uses its bushy tail to cover its head while it is searching for food. While foraging, the squirrel positions itself with its back facing the sun and its tail erect and above its head.

The squirrels spend the hottest part of the day in their burrows, which are much cooler because they are about 60 cms below the ground.

The shovel-snouted lizard

Summer is almost here. When the temperature goes up, we turn to cold drinks and ice creams to cool ourselves down. But the shovel-snouted lizard has an innovative way to cool off. When the weather becomes too hot-it starts to dance!

The shovel-snouted lizard is found in the world’s third largest desert-Sahara, in Northern Africa. When the sand becomes too hot to stand on, the lizard balances itself on its tail and raises two of its feet at a time— alternating between front left and the rear right, and vice-versa—for about 10 seconds each. It does so to cool its feet. When the shovel-snouted lizard does this, it looks as if it is dancing

The shovel-shouted lizard can remain buried deep in the sand for an entire day.

It also uses the sand to its advantage to hide and hunt. When the lizard spots a predator, it dives and buries itself in the sand. It stays hidden under a layer of sand and pops only its head out. It does the same while hunting too. The lizard surprises its prey by quickly emerging from under the sand and grabbing it. It usually feeds on small insects like beetles, moths and spiders.

Marvellous Aunt Maneka

Q. There are many dogs at the bus stop near my house. They climb all over me, so I chase them away with a stick. How can I avoid driving them away with a stick?

-Venky, 11 years, Borivali

Dear Venky, This doesn’t seem like natural behavior for dogs. They normally don’t jump on anyone without good reason. You may be carrying food and eating it in front of them. You may have hit them several times. Another reason is that they like you and are coming to make friends with you. I suggest that you stand with an adult for a few days. Avoid looking at the dogs and ignore them when they come near. Do not eat anything there and if you wish to make friends with the dogs keep a few glucose biscuits which you can throw at them from a distance.

Q. I want to keep a tortoise as a pet but I don’t know what they eat. What should I do?

-Surabhi , 10 years, Kolkatta

Dear Surbhi, It is illegal to keep tortoises as pets. They are scavengers in the water and they eat dead animals and alage. You cannot keep them alive for very long and its not right to take them out of their surroundings. They do not make good pets because they do not recognise human beings. They need sun and a specialised diet. If you want a pet, you can get a dog or cat.

Q. Can newspaper be used as bedding for my guinea pig? Is sunlight essential for him? How can I build a play area in my small house for him?

-Vipasha , 13 years, Hyderabad

Dear Vipasha, You should be letting the guinea pig out to play all over the house. Guinea pigs don’t like being locked in cages. A newspaper bedding has to be done in many layers. But there should be some cloth bedding as well. It should be changed every day and the cloth must be cleaned out. If you take him/her out into the garden or the house then you won’t have this trouble. The guinea pig needs sunlight so let him/her roam around in sunlit areas. If you are unable to watch over your pet, then make a small enclosure in which he/she can play. Get them chew toys and things they can use to exercise.

If you have questions about pets/animals/birds, write to us and we’ll ask Aunt Maneka to answer

Submit your queries at

writetochampak@delhipress.in or www.facebook.com/Champak Magazine

Deep sea creature

Every birthday, we grow a year older. Our body also ages with time. This is true of most living beings, except a type of jellyfish that has the ability to reverse its life cycle!

Turritopsis dohrnii, a species of jellyfish lives in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters around Japan. This small bell shaped jellyfish grows up to 4.5 mm in diameter as well as in height—that is about the size of a fire ant.

Generally, a jellyfish starts life as a polyp—a cucumber-shaped organism that attacks itself to the ocean floor or a coral reef. Depending on the species, a polyp takes between a week and a month to grow into an adult.

When an adult Turritopsis dohrnii is injured, it goes to the bottom of the ocean floor and transforms back into a polyp—its infant state. It does so by first retracting its tentacles and then gradually shrinking its body. Once it reaches its polyp state, it starts to grow back into an adult jellyfish. This makes the jellyfish immortal. It has the ability to do this over and over again, until it is either eaten by a predator or dies of some disease.

Turritopsis dohrnii has inspired scientists to use this process of “rebirth” to try and renew damaged or dead human tissues of a dysfunctional organ and restore it to its normal state.

How To Make Fire Extinguisher At Home – Kids Science Experiments

Note: For this experiment parental guidance is required.

For that You will need:
1. Old Soap Bottle
2. Vinegar
3. Tissue Paper
4. String
5. Scissors
6. Baking Soda

Us and Them

Giant river otters are found in the rivers and creeks of north-central South America. They are the largest sub-species of otters and can grow as long as six feet. Otters are social animals and live in groups. Each group is called a family or bevy, and has about 3-20 members. The giant river otters are the chattiest species of otters and scientists believe that they have developed a large vocabulary because of the large families that they live in.

Giant river otters whistle to warn to other otter families in case of danger, hum or coo to reassure their group’s members or their young ones and also make ‘hah’ sounds to show interest.

Families of otters have a unique group song or chorus that they shout at other otter families in order to share their identity.

Young giant river otters are also capable of making 11 unique sounds, including some that are seen only in younger otters. For example, they squeak to attract attention. They also whine and wail while participating in group activities.

Marvellous Marvellous Aunt Maneka

Q. While eating, how do herbivorous animals recognize the poisonous plants from nonpoisonous plants?

-Loehith Gokul, 9 years, Atlanta

A: Dear Loehith, Herbivores learn by watching their mothers and other group members eating. They must continuously taste food, even to that food to which they are used to because the nutrition’s and toxicity of plants change frequently. If the food does not cause the animal to feel ill, then they will continue eating the plant. For instance, deer and antelope always nibble a tiny part of a plant, then pause, and then continue to eat it if it is not poisonous. As poisonous plants are usually bitter, herbivores discover them in the first nibble and move on. This way they learn which plants are the best to eat. Elephants need a wide variety of foods to get all the nutrients. All elephants grow up in a herd and – learn what to eat and what can’t be eaten from their elders. They also learn where to go at what time of year to find certain foods. They also dig up minerals from the ground in order to supplement their diet.

Q. What food can I give to the squirrels living near my house?

Rishika Agarwal, 11 years, Ranchi

A: Squirrels love peanuts, corn, carrot pieces, apples, seeds, any fruit, even small pieces of roti and cooked rice. You should give them food at the same time and place every day as all animals are creatures of habit and get used to a specific schedule. Don’t go near them. Just leave the food for them and observe from a distance.

Termite mounds

Termites are insects that live in colonies with a hierarchy similar to that of the bees: Queen, soldier, worker and larval termites. They live in either nests or mounds.

The mound-building termites build strong mounds that can be as tall as 25 feet and live in the lower part of the mound that is underground. Irrespective of the weather outside, the inside of the mound always remains cool at 30 degree Celsius because of a network of tunnels that make up its ventilation system. The tunnels extend across the length and breadth of the mound and are all connected to one big central tunnel that runs through the centre.

During the day, when the temperature rises, the air near the opening of the mound becomes warm. As hot air rises up through the tunnels, the cool air, being denser, sinks lower through the central tunnel. This keeps the temperature inside the mound cooler than outside. Termites control the temperature of their mound because they farm a type of fungus, which grows only in this temperature. This fungus is their main source of food.

Termite mounds can outlast the colonies that built them. Some mounds have lasted even up to 2000 years.

Math in Nature

Mathematics is everywhere around the world. We observe it rarely and enjoy nature instead of understanding the mathematical concept behind it. Below are some examples which exhibit Math in Nature beautifully.

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The Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, born in Pisa was also known as Fibonacci. French historian Guillaume Libri gave the name Fibonacci to Leonardo. Leonardo introduced a unique sequence of numbers that was then named the Fibonacci series or sequence after him. Fibonacci introduced to the world a sequence of numbers, that start with zero and one, and the next number in the series is obtained by the addition of the first two numbers. Zero and one when added gave one. 1 added to 1 gave 2, the fourth number in the series, and then 2 added to 1 gave 3, then 3 added to 2 gave 5 and simply put, adding the last two numbers gave the next one till infinity. So, the series would be 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 and so on. When these numbers are represented in a diagram form, it is called The Golden Ratio.

The Fibonacci sequence became famous because patterns were found in nature that followed this sequence.

Fibonacci Series and the Nautilus Shell

In a particular kind of seashell called the Nautilus shell the size of the spirals in the shell, when measured in proportion to the previous one, follow the Fibonacci sequence. A Greek mathematician, Phidias, developed the golden ratio diagram that illustrates the Fibonacci sequence. When this is superimposed on the shell, we can see the spiral in the shell, grows from smallest at the centre to be bigger as it gets towards the shell’s opening.

The spirals of the shell follow the Fibonacci sequence.

Latin word Nautilus means sailor. It is a marine mollusk (a shellfish) that is found only in the Indo-Pacific waters. They “live among the deep slopes of the coral reefs. The shell structure of the Nautilus has been unchanged more or less, for millions of years. Belonging to the cephalopod family (symmetrical and soft-bodied sea creatures), the shape of the chambers in the shell matches the Fibonacci sequence.

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Trees

Fibonacci sequence is found in the way trees grow. Unlike a mess of tangled branches, we see a pattern in the way the number of new branches that sprout from the previous branch. In the diagram, if we consider the trunk as one, then we can see how two branches form, then three, followed by five branches and so on. The number of branches keeps on increasing as long as the tree continues to grow.

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Hurricanes

Hurricanes also display the Fibonacci sequence in their formation. When we superimpose the golden ratio diagram over a satellite image of a hurricane, the way the hurricane spirals out again matches the number ratio of the Fibonacci sequence. In this case, a lot of factors make it look like that, the way the wind blows, air temperature, air pressure and so on. It’s just another manner in which mathematics expresses itself in nature.

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Roses

Fibonacci sequence is also seen in the way the rose petals are delicately wrapped around each other from the time it’s a rosebud till the time the rose is fully in bloom. No one really knows why this pattern is followed, but it just does. There is order even in chaos.

MAKE A RICE MAGNET

Things required:

A balloon

A woollen sweater

Puffed rice

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Do:

1. Spread the puffed rice flakes on a table.

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2. Blow up a balloon and tie it.

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3. Rub the balloon vigorously against a woollen sweater.

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4. Bring the balloon near the puffed rice flakes.

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See:

The puffed rice flakes get attracted to the balloon and stick to it.

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Think about

Why do the rice flakes stick to the balloon?

All matter is made up of atoms. Inside an atom are protons, electrons and neutrons. The protons are positively charged particles, the electrons are negatively charged, and the neutrons are neutral, with no charge. In nature, opposite charges attract. Like charges repel. Static electricity is the result of an imbalance between positive and negative charges in an object. When the balloon is rubbed on a woollen sweater, electrons from the sweater get transferred to the balloon which then gets a negative charge due to excess electrons. When the balloon touches the puffed rice flakes, they get stuck to it because the rice particles are positively charged.

Dadaji And Empathy

What is transpiration?

Transpiration is the evaporation of water from a plant. It is actually the passage of water through tissues of a plant into the atmosphere.

You will need:

A potted plant, plastic bag, string

Method:

1. Place the plastic bag over a few leaves and tie it at the bottom with a string. Now with the plastic bag over the leaves, place the plant in sunlight for two to three hours.

2. Do you see droplets of water collect on the inside of the plastic bag?

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How does this happen?

Plants absorb water from the soil through their roots. This water then moves up the stem to the leaves. Almost 90 percent of the water is lost through the pores of the leaves also known as stomata. This process is called transpiration.

Transpiration adds a lot of water to our air; it also helps the plants to cool down.